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Watch Arby’s Pander to Philadelphians With a New Fresh Prince Ad

There’s a new “Philly” sandwich in town, and it’s...something

Arby’s new Fire Roasted Philly: Angus steak, Italian seasoning, provolone, red and yellow peppers, garlic ailoi, on a “Philly sub roll”
Arby’s/Official

Arby's, in its never-ending quest to corner the meat sandwich market, looked to Philadelphia — an authority on all things meat sandwich-related — for inspiration behind its new product, the Fire Roasted Philly sandwich, which just debuted last month. The sliced Angus steak sandwich is built upon a “Philly sub roll”, not a hoagie roll, then layered with provolone, yellow and red peppers, garlic aioli, and Italian seasoning.

This is not a cheesesteak. This is not a Philly-style roast beef sandwich (à la Nick’s). Really, the only “Philly” connection here is that it’s meat on provolone stuffed into a long roll, which is something the city does often enough. But in all actuality, this is just another Arby’s steak sandwich, albeit a tasty-sounding one, with vaguely Italian ingredients masquerading as something Philadelphian. And to shove that notion down your throat even further, the company got its millennial-appealing voiceover guy Ving Rhames to rap the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song in a new promotional video (below). The sandwich is now available nation-wide. Have at it: